


Lost and Found

by imissmaeberry



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Dogs, Fluff and Humor, Gen, Slice of Life, University
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-01
Updated: 2017-05-01
Packaged: 2018-10-26 17:29:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,893
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10791312
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/imissmaeberry/pseuds/imissmaeberry
Summary: Ushijima finds a dog without a collar during his weekly trip to the local dog park near his university. He decides to bring it home, hopeful he and his roommate can find the owner.





	Lost and Found

**Author's Note:**

> Hi, so, I started writing this as an entry for the Hayashi Rice Ushijima zine, but got distracted and forgot about it until after submissions were closed. But I still wanted to finish it bc I liked the idea so. here you are

The air around him is crisp and cool. He watches people pass by from his seat of the bench in the park; it’s a place he’s frequented ever since moving to this city, so drastically different from his home in Miyagi. He had wanted a space that reminded him of home - the smell of flowers and the sound of animals wandering about, chasing after toys thrown by their owners. He sits on the bench, eyes closed and hands folded together in his lap. 

A particularly loud bark catches his attention, and Wakatoshi lifts his gaze from his folded hands to find a small dog sitting in front of him, ears perked at attention and tail wagging. It’s fur is black and shaggy, but looks otherwise well-kept. 

“Hello. Are you lost?” Wakatoshi lifts the dog’s chin, notes that it’s not wearing a collar. He looks around, eyes scanning the field to see if any dog owner seems distressed, but everything and everyone seems calm. He looks back at the dog, ruffling its ears and humming thoughtfully. 

He picks the dog up, tucking it into the crook of his arm and getting off of the bench to begin the walk back to the apartment he shares with a teammate. Wakatoshi knows that his roommate has no aversion to animals, and neither does their building, so he reasons that there’s no problems bringing the pup home with him. 

When he arrives, he sets the dog down onto the floor and instructs it to “Stay,” while he goes to his room to fetch his laptop. He sits down on the couch and the pup follows, sitting down next to Wakatoshi’s foot. It stares up at him, cocking his head to the side as it watches him type. 

He searches for any missing dog postings and finds none. Wakatoshi wonders if the dog is simply a clean-looking stray, maybe it wandered too far from a shelter.

Wakatoshi’s roommate comes home an hour later, only mildly surprised to find the small dog sleeping next to Wakatoshi. The setter - Hino Takashi, a freshman like Wakatoshi who reminds him eerily of Tendou - rubs between the pup’s ears as he asks Wakatoshi where he found it. 

“She came up to me at the park. She has no collar, and no one at the park seemed to be missing her. I checked the postings, but no one seems to be looking for her.” Takashi hums and moves into the kitchen to pull a sports drink from the fridge. 

“Have you called any shelters yet? Our schedules don’t really work for a dog, Ushijima.” Takashi sips from the bottle, wipes at his brow. “Practice, classes, more practice, games, class  _ work _ . So,” he sips again and sighs. “We can’t keep her.” 

Wakatoshi nods. “I’m fully aware of that, Hino.” He rubs a hand over the dog’s head. “I’m going to find her owner. She’s trained and well-behaved, someone must have cared about her very much.”

Takashi’s eyebrows shoot up, and he lets out a long “Huuuuh,” not so much quizzical as it is thoughtful. “I  _ guess _ I can help you make posters. Or, or Ushijima, maybe you could quit the team to take care of her. Give some of the other wing spikers a chance, huh miracle boy?” The smirk on his face is wide and leering, tone of his voice blurring the lines of serious and jesting.

Wakatoshi squints, hand pausing as he pets the top of the dog’s head. “I would never jeopardize my position of the team for - “

Takashi waves a hand at his teammate as he walks through their small living area towards his room. “I know, miracle boy, I know. Let me get my camera.” 

The two boys spend their evening making a draft of the poster and taking it to the cheapest copy shop they can find to print as many posters as they deem necessary, followed by putting the posters up on notice boards and phone polls until they had put them all up. 

They pick up takeout and a small bag of dog food, the sky dark and the air close to freezing; Wakatoshi and Takashi both letting out small clouds with each breath. 

They sit on their couch, each almost obsessively checking their phones for calls and emails or any sort of response, takeout containers left unminded on the table. The dog sleeps on the floor between them, looking peaceful and happy. 

“We need to give her a name.”

Takashi sighs. “Look, if we give her a name, we’ll be even more upset when we have to either one, give her back to her owner, or two, we have to give her to a shelter.”

“We need to call her something.” Wakatoshi’s brow furrows; he understands Takashi’s point but he feels it’s not right for the pup to not have a name.

“We can just call her ‘pup’ if you really feel like it's necessary. We won't have her much longer than a few days anyway.” Takashi opens his container of food, pops a piece of chicken into his mouth, and chuckles. “Such a shame. She's a real cutie.” He ruffles the dog’s ears and hums, “She'd make a nice mascot for the team.”

Wakatoshi opens his own container and takes a bite of rice, huffing. He chews, swallows, and accuses, “I thought we weren't going to keep her.”

“Purely hypothetical, Ushijima. I remember what I said.” Takashi clicks his tongue as though to say ‘How silly of you’ and digs into his food more seriously, leaving only the sounds of chewing and the whirring of their space heater. 

Wakatoshi finishes his rice and sets the container onto the table, clearing his throat quickly before saying “Pup,” loudly and clearly. The dog’s ears perk slightly, but she continues to sleep. Takashi laughs, snapping his fingers a few inches from the dog’s face. This seems to get her attention more, eyes popping open and tail wagging. 

“She likes me better.” Takashi croons, reaching down to pet over her ears. 

Wakatoshi rolls his eyes and tries again. “Pup.” The dog looks up at him, ears perked straight up.

Takashi hums and gets up to throw his trash away and refill the dog’s bowl of water. “Did you have any animals growing up, Ushijima?”

Wakatoshi considers for a moment. “Only cows, a few chickens. Some barn cats.”

“Well, you see, the thing with dogs is that they'll look your way regardless of what you say if you say it a certain way. Watch.” Takashi clears his throat and says, voice full of excitement and faux-cheer, “Bamboo shoots!” 

The dog turns to face Takashi with her tail wagging. 

“Taxidermy!” comes next, followed by perked ears. 

Wakatoshi simply glances between the two of them as his roommate blurts out phrase after phrase, tone ever jubilant, the dog’s ears perking up each time.

“Death to the bourgeoisie!” 

“I believe that's enough, Hino. We have early morning practice, after all.” 

Takashi grunts at the mention of practice but nods, resigned. They take the dog out to relieve itself before they settle in for bed. It follows Wakatoshi into his room, trotting happily at the boy's ankles. 

“Fine.” He murmurs, mostly to himself, “But I only ask that you be quiet.”

The dog yips in response before spinning in a circle and lying down, asleep before Wakatoshi could even pull back his covers. Idly he thought that of course the dog must be tired - it had had a fairly long, exciting day. He also mused about how long it might take to find its owner, hoping for sooner rather than later - it would be rather a shame to get attached only to giver her up. 

The following days turned quickly into weeks, with Wakatoshi, Takashi, and Pup slowly but surely falling into a rhythm each day. The boys would wake up, check phone calls and emails, check lost dog postings, take Pup out to potty, feed her, and then go to training. Either Wakatoshi or Takashi would return to the room sometime between classes to let her out again and check her water, before heading back to campus until they returned from evening practice. 

It was nearing the end of November when Wakatoshi gets a call from his roommate while leaving class. 

“I found Pup’s owner. We’re on our way to the apartment now, I’ll explain everything then.” 

Wakatoshi grunts in response before hanging up, but found himself staring dully down at his phone for a few moments after the call had ended. While this had, of course, been the desired outcome upon bringing the dog home, he felt a sudden hollowness scratching at his stomach. 

He made it back to the apartment and had been inside for not ten minutes when he heard the sound of Takashi’s voice coming through the hall, accompanied by a stranger’s voice - low and sweet sounding, but Wakatoshi found himself tensing up regardless as the key turned in the lock of the door and it swung slowly open. Takashi walks in and nods in greeting to Wakatoshi, who stiffly nods back. Takashi is followed by a man well into his sixties who is short and balding, face drawn into a small bright smile as he puts up a hand in greeting towards Wakatoshi. Wakatoshi nods again.

Wakatoshi gently nudges Pup, who had been sleeping in his lap, and tells her to “Look, see who’s here.” The dog’s eyes follow the direction of Wakatoshi’s pointed finger, ears perking and legs scrambling from the boy’s lap upon sight of her owner standing in the doorway with open arms. 

The man, Uta-san, explains that he had been away, visiting his daughter and her family in Miyagi and had left Pup - whose name is actually Nao-chan - in the care of his neighbor. However, the neighbor had fallen ill quite suddenly with a stroke, and had not been able to communicate that Nao-chan needed caring for. 

“I found her in the dog park.” Wakatoshi offers, after condolences for Uta’s neighbor. The man nods, telling him that’s one of Nao-chan’s favorite spots and really quite close to his home. 

“I’d like to give you boys a reward. I can’t imagine the cost of feeding her all this time, plus the social strain it must have cost you. Takashi-kun tells me you both play volleyball for your university.” 

Both boys assure Uta that it’s not at all necessary, they’re just glad to have found her and her owner before something bad had happened. 

“There must be something I can do to repay you boys. Really, I do insist.”

Wakatoshi and Takashi share a glance and Takashi shrugs. “I’d like to visit her, if that’s all right. I often go to the dog park to clear my head and if it’s nearby, as you said, well. I have to say I’ve become attached in the last few weeks.”

“That’s perfectly fine, young man. You’re both more than welcome to visit at any time.”

Uta leaves his number and address with them before thanking them again and leaving, Nao-chan tucked safely in his arms. 

“So, Hino, will you come with me to visit Nao or will I be going alone?”

Takashi chuckles and pulls a take out menu from the drawer. “You weren’t the only one who grew attached, miracle boy.”

Wakatoshi grins. He’d thought as much. 

**Author's Note:**

> come talk to me at [aonechan](http://aonechan.tumblr.com) on tumblr


End file.
